Hall and post office plan for village

A £630,000 project to create a village hall and post office in the heart of a North Devon village has been given its first major cash injection.

Plans to build a village hall in Bishops Nympton — which will also contain a shop, a kitchen, a servery and a committee room — have been ongoing since 1997.

The planning authority, North Devon Council, has now agreed to release £60,000 from its capital programme to help the project off the ground — with construction expected to begin within the next three months.

The building, which will cost £600,000 to build, will stand on former farming land adjacent to Spire Lake Close.

John Parkhouse, spokesman for the Village Hall Steering Committee,

Mr Parkhouse said the community shop, which is run by volunteers, would probably be replaced by a commercial venture in the hall.

The former village hall will be used exclusively by Bishops Nympton Primary School once the new building is complete.

Other funding avenues include £15,000 from the parish council, £95,000 from the sale of the village hall, £100,000 from Leader 4 Funding and £17,000 from a section 106 agreement.